WellSchooled in Murder
by smush68
Summary: Tony and the rest of Team Gibbs must rescue a teacher and her students from an elevator during a bomb threat. Can they rescue the kids and teacher in time?
1. Chapter 1

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

**A/N: I KNOW I HAVEN'T FINISHED MY FIRST STORY, **_**MONSTERS IN THE SHADOWS**_**, YET, BUT I'M HAVING A BIT OF A MENTAL BLOCK THERE, SO WHILE I TRY AND WORK THRU THAT, I HAVE TO GET RID OF SOME OF THESE STORY IDEAS ROAMING AROUND IN MY HEAD. I HAD DONE A POLL ABOUT WHICH STORY IDEA Y'ALL WANTED TO SEE, AND I GOT 5 WHOLE VOTES, SO THE MAJORITY RULES, AND THE TEACHER STORY WON OUT. **

**GRACIE, THE HEROINE OF THE STORY, IS A TEACHER OF SEVERE SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS. I'M BASING MOST OF HER EXPERIENCES ON MY OWN - I'VE WORKED WITH SEVERELY AUTISTIC AND SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS FOR OVER 20 YEARS, AND MY MOTHER TAUGHT THEM FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS. I'M NOT MAKING LIGHT OF ANY DISABILITIES, I'VE JUST FOUND THAT WORKING WITH THIS POPULATION IS A HECK OF A LOT MORE FUN THAN WITH KIDS ON GRADE LEVEL. THESE KIDS ARE SO HAPPY TO BE IN SCHOOL, AND NO DAY IS EVER THE SAME. YES, IT CAN BE EXHAUSTING, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE. THE WORST OF IT WOULD BE THE PAPERWORK!**

**I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL KNEW THAT I'M NOT MAKING FUN OF ANY POPULATION OF STUDENT. I'M HOPING MY LOVE FOR "MY KIDS" COMES THRU IN MY WRITING, AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU GET A FEEL FOR WHAT HAPPENS IN A SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM.**

**A/N 2:**_** I OWN NO PART OF NCIS OR CBS, OR OF ANY COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS THAT MAY BE MENTIONED WITHIN THESE CHAPTERS. ALL I OWN OF NCIS IS MY JEALOUSY OF THE ACTUAL WRITERS OF THE SHOW.**_

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

The fire alarm began shrieking just as special needs teacher Gracie Lind pushed the "Close Door" button in the elevator. The three severe special needs children with her all jumped at the sound, which was amplified greatly in the small, metal box. "It's ok, guys," Gracie said confidently. "Just a fire drill." That the custodian should have warned her about, she thought with to herself, slightly peeved. Having a few autistic students that panic at the sound of the alarm, Gracie had worked out with the head custodian that she'd get a heads up about the fire drill as soon as he knew about it. Up until today, it had been working well. She and her assistant had a little extra time to get her students prepared for the noise.

A tug on her sweater made Gracie look down into the cherubic face of Adina, a Down's Syndrome first grader. " 'e tuh?" the young girl asked worriedly.

Gracie smiled. She'd been working with this population for nearly 20 years, since graduating from college, and could full-well understand the child. "No honey, we're not really stuck. Once the fire drill is over, the firemen will start the elevator again. Hey guys, maybe they'll let us look at their truck again, huh? That would be awesome!" Being a teacher, Gracie turned the situation into a teaching moment. "Tell you what, Deeny, see if you can find the number one button and show Kyle where it is, and he can push it."

Her cell phone rang, and Gracie pulled it out to answer. She knew it would be her instructional assistant, Janine. "Hey Miss Janine, " she answered brightly, giving the kids a thumbs-up for finding the right number. "Are you all out at the Meeting Tree?" Her assistant talked so fast and excitedly that Gracie could barely keep up. "Wait, wait, Janine, slow down. I can't understand you….. It's _**what?**_" Ohhhh no. This wasn't good. She turned her back to the kids so they wouldn't see her agitation. "What do you mean, 'it's not a drill'? What's going on?" she murmured softly. "A _**what?**_" She squinched her eyes shut. "Janine….. Janine, listen to me. You need to go to whomever's in charge and let them know that there's four of us stuck in the elevator….no, it automatically shuts down when the fire alarm goes off. Safety feature. Only the fire department can re-start it…..ok, thanks." Gracie took a quick look back at her students. "And Janine? Tell them to hurry. I think Dante's going to have a seizure."

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

The black charger squealed to a stop outside the yellow police tape, four agents rushing out. There was always a sense of urgency when children were involved, especially for the team's leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Gibbs stalked up to the SWAT van, flashing his federal ID when the LEOs would have stopped him from crossing the police perimeter. "Who's in charge here?" he ground out with a squinty glare.

A tall, husky, older man dressed in typical black SWAT gear stepped up. "That'd be me." He held out a hand to shake Gibbs' hand. "Sgt. Cavanaugh, DCPD SWAT."

"Gibbs, NCIS. Whadda' we got?"

"10:30 AM, fire alarm comes in from James Monroe Elementary School. Fire units get here to no fire, but following protocol, they check the building. Just as they call the All-Clear, a call comes in saying they hope everyone's out of the building, then they said 'tick-tock, tick-tock.' That was the end of the call."

"Bomb?" asked a younger agent.

Gibbs gave his senior agent a glare. "Ya' think, DiNozzo?"

"Sorry, boss."

Agent Gibbs turned back to the SWAT commander. "What do we know about it? Have we found a device yet?"

Just then, there was a commotion back at the police tape. A woman's voice, hysterical, an officer ordering her back. Gibbs turned and frowned at the interruption. "McGee! Go find out what that's all about."

A well-dressed younger agent pulled out his notebook. "On it, boss."

Special agent Timothy McGee strode over to where a cluster of police officers were, by this point, restraining a distraught young woman. He held his badge and ID up for the officers to see. "What's the problem here, officers?"

A beefy looking officer, the one restraining the young lady, grunted, "she's trying to cross the police line."

"PLEASE! It's an emergency! I need to speak…" The woman let out a cry and struggled as the beefy officer squeezed his hands tighter around her arms.

"We've got our _**own**_ emergency going on here, lady…." Beefy growled.

If there was one thing Agent McGee disliked, it was law enforcement officers that abused their authority. He put on his serious face. "Let her through," he said strongly.

Beefy snarled, "my orders are no one crosses …"

Tim got right up in the officer's face, giving the man his own version of the Gibbs Glare. "Let. Her. Through. Or I'll have you doing crosswalk duty for the rest of your career," he growled.

Beefy stared back at McGee, seeing if the agent would crumble under his own glare. When the officer realized the agent wouldn't give in, he sneered, and all but pushed the young lady under the tape McGee held up for her. McGee caught her before she could fall to the ground.

With another glance at the officer's nametag, Tim made a mental note to himself to make Officer Nelson's life more difficult when this situation was over. He steadied the woman. "You Ok?"

She wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Yes, thank you, detective…?" She read the badge shown to her. "Sorry, _Agent_ McGee."

"You're welcome," Tim smiled. "And don't worry. Officer Nelson won't get away with manhandling you like that." He got a watery smile and a thank you in return. Giving her a reassuring smile, McGee asked, " now, what seems to be the problem, Miss…?"

"Oh! Michaels. Janine Michaels." She wiped her eyes. "Uh, I'm an employee here at Monroe, in the severe life skills classroom. That's kids with developmental and cognitive delays. I'm in the K through second grade class." She stopped to take a breath and wipe her eyes again. "Um, our class was just leaving Music Therapy - that's up on the third floor - when the alarm went off."

"Go on," McGee encouraged gently.

"We have a student in a wheelchair, and one with a walker. They and another student had just gotten into the elevator with the teacher when the alarm went off….." she said with a sniffle.

Tim looked around. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere. Would you like me to help you look for …."

"_**NO**_**!**" Janine yelled. "You don't understand! I got the rest of our class out to our designated "Meeting Tree" - that's where we all meet up if we get split up in emergency situations. Gracie - that's the teacher, Gracie Lind, never came out to meet up with us! I called her cell," Janine said with a sob, "she and the three kids are still inside, on the elevator!" Tears poured down her face. "Please! You've got to help them!"

McGee's face paled. He turned and started back to the SWAT van, ushering Janine along at his side. Gibbs was grilling the commander when McGee interrupted. "Uh, boss….." Gibbs ignored him. "**BOSS!**" he yelled.

"**WHAT,** McGee?" Gibbs growled, turning to face his young agent, who should have known better than to interrupt while he was questioning someone.

McGee knew he'd broken one of Gibbs' Rules, but it needed to be done. "Um, uh, sorry, boss. But, uh, well… we've got a problem."

_****PHOOF****_

**Well, I hope y'all enjoyed this first chapter. I've had this story in my head for literally YEARS, originally written for characters not of NCIS. But I think it will fit the show well. I hope! So PLEASE, click that little REVIEW button and let me know what you think! Click REVIEW….**

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_**NOW!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**CHAPTER 2**_

"Uh, boss, we've got a problem," McGee stammered nervously. "This is Janine Michaels, she's a teacher here…"

"Teacher _**assistant**_," Janine interrupted.

"A teacher assistant here," McGee acknowledged and continued, "and she says that there's a teacher and 3 disabled students still in the building, in the elevator."

Gibbs turned aside and swore under his breath. "Ok, Ms. Michaels, repeat the story for me," he ordered, turning back. He liked to hear it in the witness' own words. Meanwhile, his three agents gathered and talked softly to each other, McGee telling them the story Janine Michaels had told him.

"Ok. McGee, get the blueprints for this place, we need to know where everything is," murmured Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Special agent Gibbs' second in command. "Ziva, find the custodians, no one knows the place better, they'll be able to tell us if anything's out of the ordinary." The junior agents started off on their assigned duties, and Tony yelled to Ziva, "And bring the principal, too!"

Tony walked over to where Gibbs was still questioning the teacher's assistant, and at his boss' look, told him the assignments he'd handed out.

"Good," Gibbs said. "I'm going to see what's taking so long for the bomb dogs to get here. You get the names of the teacher and the students and their disabilities from Ms. Michaels. When McGee comes back, I want background run on them."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You thinking it's personal, then?"

"I'm not thinking anything right now, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, starting to walk away. "And get me those names!" he yelled over his shoulder as he left.

Janine rubbed her crossed arms. "Is he always so….?" she stopped, unable to find a word that fit Gibbs' persona.

Tony chuckled as he took out his notebook. "Uh, yeah. Pretty much all the time. You get used to it," he said with a small smile. "Now, can you give me the name of the teacher?"

Janine sniffled, on the verge of tears again. "Yeah, um she's Gracie Lind. She's the teacher in the kindergarten through second grade classroom, where I work." She continued rubbing her arms.

Tony took silent note of the arm rubbing. "Ok, and you said there are how many kids with her?"

"There's three. Um, Kyle Belanger, he's 5, has cerebral palsy so he uses a walker, has braces on his legs, significant cognitive delays, very little speech." Janine wiped her eyes. "Uh, Adina Alvarez, she just turned seven. She's Down's, significant cognitive delays. Her language is garbled, she can be hard to understand when you talk to her." She chuckled. "In fact, Gracie is about the only one who can hold a conversation with Deeny and have any clue what was said."

Tony smiled to put the young woman at ease.

"The last student is Dante Ferragamo, age five. He's got serious global learning delays. He has very little speech, mostly just sounds. He's in a wheelchair cuz he can't walk at all, low muscle tone. Oh, and he has seizures."

Tony looked up quickly. "Seizures? How bad? Does he need anything?"

Janine shook her head. "At this point, we just keep track of the seizure - time of day, how long it lasts, what he was doing at the time the seizure occurred. They've mostly been pretty small, but back at the beginning of the year, he had a really long one, a grand mal, and had to go to the hospital by ambulance." She could see Tony was nervous about that. "But that hasn't happened in several months," she rushed. "Like I said, mostly small ones that last a few minutes. And he usually falls asleep afterward." She was still unconsciously rubbing at her arms.

Finished writing the details in his notebook, Tony pointed at her arms. "Cold?"

Janine startled. "Huh? OH, no, no, I'm fine."

As she dropped her hands to her sides, Tony could see fingerprint bruises on her arms. He stepped closer and took an arm in his hands to look over the bruising. "These are recent….."

"Huh?" Janine was surprised to see the marks. "I guess that's where that officer grabbed me."

Grimacing - he hated any man that used his strength against a woman - he checked them over. "Do they hurt?"

Janine shrugged. "Um, a little, I guess."

"Our medical examiner is on his way, we'll have him take a look, OK?" He smiled at the expression on the young woman's face. "Don't worry, he's a doctor, too. Fixes all of us at NCIS up. Beats a trip to the hospital!"

Just then, the other agents returned. "Tony, got the building blueprints," said McGee, holding them up.

"And the 'maintenance engineers'," Ziva said with some emphasis, "will be over momentarily to go over them with us." Americans are so hung up on job titles, she thought sarcastically. Custodian, maintenance engineer, same thing in her book, but apparently not in theirs. "The principal is still talking with the staff, he too, shall be over shortly."

"Good," Gibbs grunted as he returned. "McGee, DiNozzo has names for you to run. I want background, see if any of them has a connection to the Navy, or a reason someone might want them dead." He saw the witness rubbing her arms, noticed the bruising. "Ziva, take Ms. Michaels over to Ducky, have him take a look at her arms. McGee, get going on those names. DiNozzo, with me."

McGee spotted the bruises on Janine's arms as she walked past him. "Crosswalk duty is too good for him," he growled under his breath. Tony looked at him.

"Huh?" Tony asked.

"The officer that did that to her. Nelson, his name is. Warned him he'd be doing crosswalk duty if he didn't let Ms. Michaels through the line." Tom scowled. "I was just thinking that crosswalk duty would be too good for him."

Like Tim, Tony stared at the officer in question. At another yell from Gibbs, Tony began to walk away, still keeping an eye on that officer. "Later?" he asked quietly.

Tim smirked evilly. "Oh yeah." He then began doing background searches on the names of the people in the elevator.

Tony was just walking up as Gibbs was wondering - rather loudly - to the SWAT Commander where the bomb squad and dogs were.

"You have to understand, Agent Gibbs, these guys are like SWAT. We're from all over the area. It takes a while for us to get together, especially the guys with the dogs."

Gibbs got in the commander's face. "You tell that to the three little kids and the teacher stuck in that elevator," he snarled quietly. Tony looked on with a small grin. He loved to see the Gibbs Glare at work. Just then, Ziva hurried up with Janine Michaels.

"Gibbs….." Ziva began.

"It's her," Janine said breathlessly, waving her cell phone. "Gracie, in the elevator."

The agents all turned to her. Gibbs motioned for Janine to take the call. "Put it on speaker, I'll need to talk to her."

"Hey Gracie," Janine said. "NCIS is here and…."

"Ms. Lind, I'm Agent Gibbs with NCIS…"

"Good for you," came the sarcastic reply from the other end of the line. "But can you put Janine back on, please? It's kind of an emergency."

The agents all had various expressions of shock on their faces. Did this woman just give Gibbs the brush off? "Did she just….?" Tony whispered in awe to McGee, who was also stunned, mouth hanging open.

"Uh huh," Tim answered softly. They could see the anger boiling in their boss's face.

"I'm right here, Gracie," Janine rushed, hoping to smooth the way.

"Need you to write this down," Gracie said over the line. "1:37 to 1:41, petite, rigor, myself and two classmates present, and he was stuck in an elevator at the time," she rattled off sarcastically as Janine struggled to find a pen and paper. Not finding any paper, she wrote the information down on her hand.

"Dante just had a seizure," Janine explained quietly to Gibbs. "This is how we keep track of them." In a regular tone, she said to Gracie, "got it. How is he now?"

"Still a little stiff," came the reply. "He grabbed my sleeve when it started, and he still can't release. But I think he's about ready to fall asleep."

"Ms. Lind, Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," Gibbs said evenly, trying not to sound pissed off. After all, it _**was**_ kind of an emergency.

"Yeah, sorry about that, Agent Gibbs, but I don't have anyplace to write that info down, and I wanted to get it down before I forgot it," Gracie said over the line.

"Not a problem." There was a snort behind him, and Gibbs turned and gave Tony The Glare. Tony cleared his throat and straightened up, having been caught. "Other than the seizure, how are you all doing?"

"Well," came the almost pleading voice, "we'd be doing a _**lot**_ better if you could turn off the alarm. It echoes something fierce in here. That's what brought on the seizure."

Gibbs motioned for McGee to go get that request taken care of, and McGee took off at a run. "We're working on that right now. Anything else?"

" 'ee-ta?" came a little girl's voice, followed by a small chuckle. "No, Deeny, they can't bring us pizza." To Gibbs, Gracie said, "Just get us out of here ASAP."

The adults laughed at the pizza comment. "Just hang tight, ok, Gracie? We're going as fast as we can," said Gibbs. "And just maybe there'll be pizza here when you guys get out," he said with a smile. Everyone chuckled at the cheer that went up from the kids in the elevator. "Ok, I'm going to go see what's going on. Keep the line open, ok?"

"Awwww gee, so I can't play Words With Friends?" Came the sarcastic reply. Gibbs shut the phone and handed it back to Janine.

"Let me know if she calls back." He turned and began walking away, his own cell phone to his ear. "Tobias, need a favor…."

_*****PHOOF*****_

_**A/N - Kind of a hastily thrown together chapter. Sorry about that, but wanted to get something out to keep my head in the game. Hope ya'll liked it! And whether or not you did, c'mon and hit that REVIEW button for li'l ol' me, wouldja' please?**_

_**A/N 2 - Thanks to all who alerted and favorited! You put a smile on my face. But it was my one review last chapter that made me want to dance with joy! But I didn't want to scare anyone, so I didn't.**_

_**A/N 3 - I have no claim to anything even remotely related to NCIS, CBS, or any of their affiliates. I just admire them so much, so I'm borrowing. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!**_

_*******REVIEW PLEASE!*******_


	3. Chapter 3

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**Chapter 3**_

Gracie closed her cell with a snap and dropped it back in her pocket. "See, guys?" she said with a smile. "They're already working on getting us out…" Her voice was a yell as the fire alarm was cut off suddenly. She said a silent thank you to whomever the wonderful person was that saved all their ears. The abrupt silence was almost deafening. She played with her ears, making a funny noise, causing the children to laugh. "Oh good!" she said, with exaggerated relief. "I can still hear!"

Looking down at Dante, the child in the wheelchair, she saw he was asleep, but still had a vice grip on her shirt sleeve, making her range of movement with that arm very limited. Gracie thought about prying his little fingers open, but she was afraid she'd wake him. Checking the other kids, she saw that Adina, her Downs student, was handling things very well, as usual. She was a tough little cookie, that one. And Kyle, with the walker due to his cerebral palsy, was also doing ok, but she could see that he was getting tired of standing for so long. "Hey Kyle, you want to sit and take your braces off for a little while?"

The boy gave a jerky nod. "Deh."

Gracie grimaced in sympathy. "Yeah, I bet those arms of yours are getting tired, huh?" She felt bad as he nodded again. "Ok, we'll get you going in one sec, ok?" She started to move Adina to a different spot so there would be enough room for Kyle to sit comfortably. It was a small elevator to begin with, but put two large pieces of adaptive equipment, three kids and an adult in all at the same time, and it became tiny. "Just think how _strong_ those arm muscles of yours are going to be, huh?" Gracie smiled when Kyle seemed to puff up and preen at the thought of being muscular. "Yeah, then you'll _really_ have all the girls chasin' after you!" It was so good to hear him giggle like a carefree kid.

"Deh! Mi' Knee!" the boy laughed.

Exaggerating her surprise for the kids, Gracie said, "Miss Janine? You know she already adores you!" The kids laughed. Having made some room Gracie tried to reach over to Kyle, but found her one arm stuck, shirt clutched in the sleeping Dante's hand. "Hmmmmmm. Can you hold on for one more sec, Mr. Superman Kyle?" At his nod, she said, "Ok, let's play a game called 'What's in Miss Lind's pockets?' Who wants the first guess? Deeny?"

The young girl was thrilled to be chosen first. "Ee tah'!" the little girl yelled, and Kyle burst into giggles.

Gracie showed surprise. "Pizza?" The kids laughed and Adina nodded. "You think there's _pizza_ in my pockets?" Both kids laughed and said yes. "Wouldn't that be messy? Eeeeeww! Even if there _was_ pizza in my pocket, I wouldn't want to eat it after it's been in there all day! Blechhhh!" The giggles continued. "Ok, Kyle, how 'bout you? What do you think I might have in my pockets?"

The little boy thought for a moment. "Nay' aws?"

"Crayons?" The teacher smiled when the boy nodded. She reached into a pocket and pulled out four different colored crayons. "Did you peek in there?" she asked suspiciously.

"Uh-uh!" Kyle insisted.

Gracie gave him a mock suspicious eye. "We-e-e-elll, ok, then. You're just a good guesser, I guess, huh?" She smiled at the boy, who nodded happily. Reaching into her pockets, Gracie began to pull some tools of the trade out. Packet of tissues, squishy ball, capped pen, a marker, another crayon, lanyard with her room keys and the elevator key on it….no scissors, darn it. 'Guess I'll just have to improvise,' she thought to herself. Uncapping the pen, she began trying to make a hole in her sleeve, near where it was being held hostage. "Just hang on, Kyle, ok? Soon as I get my arm out of Dante's grip, we'll get you sitting, ok, bud?" She smiled when he nodded. "Ok," she said, hacking away at her sleeve.

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

_Outside at the SWAT Command Post_

"Uh-oh," McGee said quietly as he typed rapidly on his laptop.

Tony turned from where he was looking over the building blueprints. " 'Uh-oh' ? What 'uh-oh'? We don't _like_ 'uh-oh's, McGee." He joined Tim.

Tim grimaced a bit. "I've got the kids' backgrounds, as well as the teacher's." He turned the laptop so Tony could have a look.

"Uh-oh," Tony said direly, reading the information.'

"I don't like 'uh-oh's, DiNozzo," said Gibbs, breezing in. "Whadda' ya' got, McGee?"

Tim and Tony shared a look over the top of the laptop. "Uh, well…you're not going to like it, Boss," Tim said slowly.

Gibbs leaned closer to him. "What I _don't_ like is not getting information."

"Right, boss," Tim gulped. "Uh, well, the teacher's background is clean, couple of speeding tickets. Got her teaching degree from a small state college up in central Massachusetts, had to take the math portion of the MTEL - that's the Massachusetts Teacher's test, twice, barely squeaked by on the second try. I took a look at some of the sample questions on the test. It's not an easy test. Apparently even some of the bigwigs that developed the test couldn't answer some of the questions…." At a glare from his boss, McGee continued. "Right, " he said with a grimace. "Anyway, it's not her background so much that's an 'uh-oh.' It's….who she _is._"

"And _who_ is she, McGee?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

Tim and Tony once again shared a nervous look, and McGee turned the laptop so his boss could see the screen. "Gracie Lind is the granddaughter of Commander Matthew Lind, Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy, retired."

Gibbs wasn't happy. He turned away with a silent oath. Bad enough having to deal with military officers, but a _Vice Admiral_? Could this day get any worse?

Tony cleared his throat, "Uh, that's not all, Boss." He grimaced at the dark look Gibbs turned on him. "Tell him, McBadNews," he said quickly, poking McGee in the back.

Looking at Tony with a glimmer of panic, Tim turned back to the laptop and did a little more typing, calling up another profile. "One of the students, Dante Ferragamo, has military ties, also. His father is Colonel Victor Ferragamo, U.S. Marines."

Closing his eyes, Gibbs prayed for strength. "Ok, we need to keep this as quiet as possible. We don't want every news agency broadcasting that information. McGee," he ordered, "get the admiral and the colonel down here, I want to talk to them."

"On it, boss," McGee said, getting up and taking his laptop with him.

Tony stood by silently, giving Gibbs a chance to think. "You thinking the kid or the teacher were targeted because of the admiral or the colonel?" he asked quietly.

Gibbs looked around the area, eyes missing nothing and no one. "Always a possibility, DiNozzo." After one more scan of the area, he turned to Tony. "What else we got?"

Tony sighed. "Well, the custodians showed us around the blueprints, haven't had a chance to ask about the elevator specifically, yet."

"Well let's go do that," Gibbs said, almost pleasantly.

Groaning to himself, Tony said, "This is not going to be good."

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

_**Outside the command center**_

Ziva straightened as her boss and Tony came up to the truck SWAT was using as a desk. "Gibbs, this is Joe Talamo and Cal Borell, the daytime custodians here at the school."

The two jeans-and-t-shirt clad men held out their hands to shake with the agents. "We're the maintenance engineers here at Monroe."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "Yes, the 'maintenance engineers,'" she corrected herself. "This is Special Agent Gibbs, he is in charge of the situation on our end."

Gibbs nodded at the men and gently pushed by them to look at blueprints of the elevator shaft. "What can you tell me about the elevator, gentlemen?"

"Well, it's your typical 6-pulley system," started Joe, the head maintenance man. "There's only the one elevator, original to the building, 'bout 5 years old now. Serviced and inspected to code regularly."

Looking at the plans, Gibbs asked, "And the only way to get it going again is…?"

Joe shrugged. "Like any other elevator in the world, the only way to re-start it after a fire alarm is with a special key the fire department uses."

"What about the doors themselves?" asked Tony. "Would they prop open so we could get in there?"

The two custodians looked at each other and shrugged. "I would guess so," said Cal. "Only problem is if the car is stuck between floors. It would be harder to get them out, even with the doors open."

"We could tell you more if we could get into the building to the central computer. We'd be able to tell you exactly where they are," said Joe.

"No," Gibbs said as he thought, looking at the blueprints. "Too dangerous. Bomb squad hasn't gotten here yet to clear the building."

Tony got an idea. "Would it be possible to access the central computer from a remote location?"

"Sure," answered Cal. "All we need is the principal's code to unlock the program."

"Ziver," began Gibbs.

"Getting McGee, Gibbs," she said, walking away.

"What about the emergency intercom system? Is it operational?" asked Gibbs, pointing to a picture on the plans.

Joe said, "far as we know. We've never had a reason to use it. Once we're in the computer, we'll be able to tell you that, too."

"This says it's also video equipped," noticed Tony. "Don't suppose you've ever noticed if that works, either."

Both custodians just shook their heads as McGee and Ziva returned.

"Right here, boss," said McGee. "We've got the code from the principal. Soon as we log it in, we should have the school's central computer right at our fingertips."

"Do it," ordered Gibbs, watching as McGee's fingers flew across the laptop's keyboard.

"Alright, here it is," sighed McGee, showing the custodians.

"Perfect," said Joe. He went to type something in, stopping for permission. "May I?"

McGee stood and moved out of the way. "By all means." He saw Gibbs motioning him over. "Yeah boss?"

"You get in touch with the admiral or the colonel?" asked Gibbs quietly.

"Uhhh, yeahhhh," McGee stalled. "The colonel is in Norfolk, but he's on his way." He shifted nervously.

Gibbs smirked at the young agent's discomfort. "And the 'admiral'?" he asked sarcastically.

McGee cleared his throat. "Uh, well…."

"Spit it out, McGee," barked Gibbs.

"He said that, uh, 'it's the policy of the United States not to negotiate with terrorists or anyone aiding them, and as a representative of the United States military, he upholds that policy,'" McGee said with a grimace.

Gibbs shook his head slowly. "So he's not coming."

McGee frowned. "He's not coming."

"Pompous son of a…." glowered Gibbs as he walked back to the truck, hoping for some good news for a change. "DiNozzo!"

Tony jumped. "Yeah boss!" At the glare, he continued, "Oh, right. Well, the elevator is between the second and third floors," he said, pointing to the spot on the computer. "And the emergency phone as well as the camera should be operational. It just needs to be activated from the inside."

"Do it," Gibbs barked, smirking when DiNozzo almost dropped his cell in his haste to follow orders.

"On it, boss!"

_**A/N - hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm a little iffy about the whole last part, myself. Just to be clear, I know NOTHING about elevator systems, other than push the button to make it move. And yes, I frequently have several odd things in my pockets at work.**_

_**A/N 2 - Once again, I have no monetary or proprietary part of NCIS, nor do I incur any monetary benefits from this story in the name of NCIS. Sigh. My life is sooo sad.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**Chapter 4**_

As Gibbs returned with a fresh coffee (where does he get those, anyway?), Tony jogged up to him.

""Ey boss, custodians have the elevator camera and audio online and ready to go. We just need to let the teacher know, so she can activate it from the inside."

"Good. Get her on the phone," said Gibbs as they arrived at the SWAT command truck. Janine Michaels handed over her phone to Gibbs.

"She's *1, Agent Gibbs," the young woman said when the gruff agent took the phone from her.

Dialing and putting the phone on speaker, Gibbs looked over blueprints as it rang. And rang. And rang. Just as he was starting to get frustrated, it was answered. "Miss…"

"No, honey, hold it up to my ear…..that's my nose, Deeny, my ear…..my…..(sigh)…where's _**your**_ ears?…..Good! Now, see if you can find mine, they're in the same place as yours…..(oomph)…not that high up, kiddo, I can't hear anything…..down just a little…little more…..whew! Finally! Hello?….whoops!"

There was a loud clattering sound that caused everyone at the truck to jump. "Pick it up," they heard from a distance. "Pick…you know what, just slide it over to me…..there ya' go…" The three younger agents could see that Gibbs was rapidly losing patience.

"Sounds like she dropped the phone, boss," said DiNozzo, trying to placate Gibbs. "Shutting up now, boss," he said, contrite, at the glare he got from the older man.

"Here, wait, let me come down to you….ok, that's as far as I can go….ok, good job, Deeny. Hello?" Gracie asked, breathing hard from all the maneuvering.

Gibbs grimaced. "Can you hear me now, Miss Lind?" he asked, not a little sarcastically. He hated delays. Ziva, Tim, and Tony shared a look, hoping Gibbs didn't make this woman trapped in an elevator with three kids cry.

"Uh, yeah," came the voice from the elevator, "but I've kinda got my hands full at the moment, so talk to Deeny for a minute, ok?" There was a clatter.

The three younger agents could see their boss' face turning red. "That was brave," murmured McGee.

Ziva turned away so Gibbs wouldn't hear. "And very foolish."

McGee and Ziva turned to Tony, waiting for his comment, and he did not disappoint. With a dreamy, far away look in his eye, he raised an eyebrow and said, "I think I'm in love with that woman." 'She's got guts,' he thought to himself, 'giving Gibbs the brush-off on the phone, not once, but _**twice**_ now. Damn, but that's hot!' He was so far away in his dreams, he missed Ziva and Tim rolling their eyes at him.

Meanwhile, Gibbs was almost apoplectic. In the middle of a crisis, this teacher just hands off the phone to her student? What the hell? "Miss Lind?….Miss Lind…..'ey! _**Miss Lind!**_…"

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

_Inside the elevator_

One shirtsleeve still caught in the sleeping boy's hand, Gracie held an open pen in the other, and was trying - not too successfully - to hack through the fabric and cut it off at the cuff, so she'd be able to use that hand again. She looked over at Adina, who was holding the cell phone away from her ear.

Adina looked up at her teacher with raised eyebrows. "Dih deddin'" the young girl said, and Gracie could hear the agent on the other end yelling for her.

"Still yelling, huh?" She translated the girl's speech. "Well, he'll just have to sit in the quiet chair for a while then later, won't he?" She smiled when the little girl laughed. Moments later, Gracie heard her assistant's voice come over the phone.

"Deeny, it's Miss Janine. Tell Miss Gracie to push the red button under the speaker next to the door….tell her to push the red button."

Adina looked at her teacher. "Mi' neen day puts ded buh-uh aw duh-uh."

"Yeah, sweets, I heard. 'Push the red button by the door,' right?" She smiled when the little girl nodded. "Let's see if I can reach that far, still attached to Dante. Tell Miss Janine, Miss Gracie said 'ok'." Due to her position, and the position of the kids and the hardware, she couldn't….quite…..reach. She smiled as she listened to Adina on the phone.

"Mih' neen? Ih' neeny. Mih Dayt-zee tay 'O-day.'" (Miss Janine? It's Deeny. Miss Gracie says 'okay')

Gracie could hear Janine translating for everyone on the outside. "Deeny, tell Miss Janine that I can't reach it, but I'll figure something out."

The little girl nodded, pigtails bobbing. "Mih' neen, Mih Dayt-zee cah eats, uh dee fih-er tum-din ow." Adina smiled at her teacher, proud of herself for having delivered such an important message.

"Good job!" Gracie praised. She could hear the silence on the other end of the phone as Janine was trying to figure out what, exactly, Adina had said. She heard over the phone, "did she say they can't eat?" said a male voice. "No, no, that wasn't Deeny's 'eat.' Eats, eats, eats…" Janine repeated in thought.

Gracie spent a few minutes trying to get Adina to press the red button for her, but as usual, under pressure, the girl forgot her colors. "Kyle, I know I'm asking a lot honey, but can you reach over and push that red button, if I hold you up?" She smiled in relief when the boy nodded happily. Putting her hand under his armpit, she supported Kyle as he stretched and pushed the correct button. "'Atta boy! Good job Kyle!" Gracie always got all mushy inside when she saw the sense of pride in her students' eyes. "Ok, now what that button does is, turns on a video camera so the people outside, the ones working to get us out of here, can see and hear us, and make sure we're ok. And we'll be able to talk to them, too." She pointed to the speaker that was part of the elevator control panel. "See those dots there? That's where we'll hear them from, and they'll hear us from."

"Tee-bee?" Kyle asked, hopefully.

"Sorry kiddo, we won't get tv in here. But you'll get to talk to real-live government super agents," Gracie said, turning back to her stuck sleeve, hacking away with her pen. She just needed to make a hole big enough to fit her finger into, so she could rip the sleeve.

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

_Out at the Command Center truck_

Four special agents, two maintenance engineers, and a SWAT commander stood around the computer, waiting for the video to come up, anxious to see how the teacher and the three kids were coping, trapped in the elevator as they were. The scene that opened up before them….well, to say the least, it confused them.

"What is she doing?" asked Ziva, trying to make sense of the picture on the screen. "Why is she stabbing herself with a pen?"

No one answered her. They couldn't - they were just as befuddled as Ziva was.

"Yes!" shouted the young woman on the screen as she succeeded in making a hole in her shirtsleeve. The group watched as the teacher tucked a finger in the hole and began pulling. "Don't do this at home, guys. No ripping your clothes on purpose. This is a special situation," she said to the kids. The little girl with pigtails to rival Abby's nodded. "Ped-oh di-dayshun." The teacher smiled at the young girl. "Right, 'special situation.'" With a strong pull, the sleeve began tearing. As the hole became bigger, the teacher grabbed an end with her teeth and finished off the rip with a flourish. "Woo-hoo! Free!" she said happily, waving her formerly caught up arm around in celebration.

Gibbs sighed. He didn't have the patience for this. "Miss Lind?" he barked, feeling just slightly sorry that he'd caused the children to jump at the sudden sound of his voice.

"Agent Gibbs, right?" Gracie asked, as they watched her drop to her knees next to the boy with the walker.

"Yeah. Listen," Gibbs began.

Gracie grimaced. "Uh, look, I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs, but I've got to get Kyle sitting and take his braces off. He's been holding himself up with just his arms all this time. Just a few minutes, ok?"

Tim and Ziva's mouths dropped open in shock. Miss Lind had put Gibbs…._** GIBBS**_!….off for a third time! Tony just got that far away look on his face again. "She shoots him down even on video…I think I just met the girl I'm going to marry," he said dreamily. Tim and Ziva rolled their eyes.

The group watched - some of them more impatient than others - as the teacher, Gracie Lind, moved the walker to the side and took the young boy, Kyle, by the waist, pulling him to her. She slipped a hand under his knees. "Ok, bud. On the count of three, ok? One…two…three…" On three, she gently but forcibly pulled the boy's legs out from under him, supporting him in her hands. She took great care to settle him on the floor and make sure he was comfortable. "Ok, now let's get these braces off, ok?" Gracie turned and folded up the walker and propped it against the wall, then turned back to the boy and began tugging on the latches and hinges on the intricate braces on his legs. Just as she was starting on the second brace, the little girl sneezed.

The group watching the video "Eeeeew!"-ed all at the same time at the gunk that dripped out of the girl's nose. But they saw that Gracie never even looked at the girl. She used one hand to continue unlatching the brace, and with the other, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the girl's nose, with barely a glance at her, tucking the used tissue into a pocket in the girl's jeans. With the braces finally off and set aside, Gracie took a minute to gently massage Kyle's legs, hoping to avoid spasms or cramps from having him stand so long.

Gracie finally turned and looked at the camera. "Ok, Agent Gibbs. You've got my divided attention. But talk fast, never know what might happen with these guys," she joked. At least, Gibbs _**hoped**_ it was a joke.

Gibbs grimaced. "Look, Miss Lind, I don't think you understand the seriousness of this situation…"

Gracie interrupted, "Agent Gibbs, I know you're going to tell me that _**you're**_ in charge, and _**out there**_, that may very well be. But until each of these three kids is out of this elevator and off school property, _**they**_ are my first priority. If I have to choose between an order from _**you**_, or the safety of these kids….the kids win every time," she said angrily.

Rubbing a hand over his face and up through his hair, Gibbs said, "I'm not denying that the safety of the students is important. But when you're_** 'playing around'**_ in there, it makes our job out here - getting you out of there - a little difficult," he argued.

"Playing…. 'playing around'? You think I'm '_**playing around'?**_" Gracie took a step closer to the camera. "You ever been stuck in an elevator with three 3 year olds, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked over his shoulder at his field agents with a raised eyebrow, thinking to himself that sometimes the three of them were like three year olds. "I think I know the feeling," he joked, giving his affronted agents a half-smile.

Gracie crossed her arms over her chest. "Then you _**know**_ they need to be constantly entertained and engaged, or tantrums could occur. These kids can't just sit calmly and patiently, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for you to get us out of here. They've got about a five second attention span. So things have got to be happening _**all the time**_ to keep things on an even keel….."

Standing between Tony and Tim, Justine sighed. "Might as well get comfortable and settle in," she said, leaning against the truck. "This could take a while."

Tim joined her at the truck. "Why's that?"

Shaking her head, Justine said, "Gracie is like, a big advocate for our kinds of kids. Doesn't like it when they're discriminated against, skipped over, taken advantage of…." She looked over where Gibbs was running a hand over his face and up through his hair in frustration. "Your boss just opened up a big ol' can o' worms. She can do this," Janine pointed to where Gracie was still lecturing Gibbs, "all day long."

Barking from behind him alerted Gibbs to the presence of the bomb sniffing dogs. "Dogs are here," Gibbs said to Gracie, getting up and leaving the computer. He walked over to his friend Tobias Fornell. "It's about damned time, Tobias," he groused.

Fornell raised an eyebrow. "Hey. Do you know how hard it was to get these dogs here? A 'thank you' would be nice."

"Thank you," Gibbs growled. "It's still about damned time."

Fornell shook his head with a smile. "You're welcome." He fell into step with Gibbs as they walked toward the SWAT Command Center, Gibbs filling his old pal in on the situation, bringing up the teacher's attitude as they joined Tim, Ziva, and Tony. Fornell chuckled. "Someone hung up on Gibbs before he could hang up on them! Can't wait to meet this woman!"

Ziva and Tim rolled their eyes. "Don't get Tony started," warned Tim.

"Yes," added Ziva. "He thinks he's in love with this woman because she puts Gibbs on hold."

Tony looked offended. "What?" he asked. "Can I help it if her bravery in the face of danger makes me hot?" he defended himself.

Seeing the dogs about to enter the building, Gibbs started to go back to the elevator video, but changed his mind. "Hey, Romeo," he called to Tony, "go tell your 'girlfriend' that the bomb squad is coming in with the dogs."

Tony's face lit up. "Really, boss?" he asked happily. At the stare he got from Gibbs, Tony started off. "On it, boss!" He rubbed his hands together with glee.

The rest of the team watched as Tony swaggered to the video set up. "Twenty bucks says she drives him crazy in five minutes or less," said Tim quietly to Ziva. She smirked.

"I will take that bet," she said just as quietly, "but I think he will last until one of the students needs her attention. Tony will not be able to stand it."

"Sucker bet," said Gibbs from behind them.

The young agents looked contrite. "Sorry boss." "Sorry, Gibbs."

Gibbs smirked. "I'm in for twenty. But I give him until her first rant. Tony can't go more than 5 minutes without talking about himself. It'll drive him nuts."

The two younger agents, Fornell, and Gibbs all smiled a knowing smile.

_***NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS**NCIS***_

_**A/N - **_**Not really sure I like this chapter, but it has it's moments. So please leave a review and let me know what **_**you**_** thought of it. Thanks!**

_**A/N 2-**_** I receive no monetary benefits from this NCIS ff. NCIS, it's affiliates, CBS and their affiliates do. I have no ties whatsoever to ANY of those entities. Sad, really, when you think about it.**

**R E V I E W ! ! ! !**


	5. Chapter 5

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**Chapter 5**_

Gibbs shook his head as he watched his SFA at the Command Center computer, talking to that teacher. With each of their personalities, the two of them were either going to get along fabulously, or kill each other. Knowing DiNozzo as he does, Gibbs is betting on killing each other.

"McGee!" he barked, secretly enjoying the way his junior agent jumped.

McGee swallowed nervously. "Yeah, boss?"

Gibbs motioned him over with a finger. "Pay a visit to the Admiral," he said with a note of sarcasm. "Tell him to get his pompous ass down here, ASAP."

"But boss," gulped McGee. "The Admiral said…."

Gibbs pinned McGee with a stare. "He does _**not**_ have a choice, McGee. However you gotta' get him here - hogtied, dragged by his hair, I don't _**care**_ - you just get him here. Arrest him if you have to!" he ordered.

"Uh, on what charges, boss?" McGee asked as Gibbs started walking away.

Gibbs swung back around angrily. "Reckless endangerment of three minors, hindering a federal investigation, being a first-rate jackass, _**I don't care!**_ Make something up!… _**GO!" **_he yelled, making a shooing motion when McGee just stood there, confused that his boss was asking him to trump up charges on a Navy officer…not just an officer, a _**vice admiral**_ for Pete's sake!

Seeing the frustration and anger on his boss' face, Tim nodded. "Getting the admiral here any way possible. On it, boss." With that, he took off.

****************NCIS**********NCIS*****************

After looking around for a few minutes, Janine Michaels found Agent Gibbs. She had no problem admitting that the man down-right scared her. She felt sorry for Gracie, basically trapped in the elevator with him. "Ex… excuse me, Agent Gibbs?" she asked tentatively. She almost jumped out of her skin when the man turned around.

"Miss Michaels. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.

Janine fidgeted. "Uh, well, the… the parents of the rest of our students are here, wanting to take their kids home. The, uh, the school called them when they found out we wouldn't be able to go back in." She never did well making decisions like this, but having to ask _**this**_ man? She'd be lucky if she didn't throw up afterward.

Gibbs nodded. "Ok. And?"

"Oh…," Janine was surprised Agent Gibbs was being so agreeable. She got a little more confident. "Well, I wanted to check with you first before I let anyone go, I didn't know if it was ok."

Gibbs took a look around the scene, knew keeping the disabled children here was of no use. "Fine with me."

If she had been chewing gum, Janine would have swallowed it. "It _**is?**_"

With a half-smile, Gibbs gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Tell 'em to go home."

"Ok, I will," Janine said, still a little dazed. "Thank you, Agent Gibbs."

"Welcome, Miss Michaels." Watching her start to walk toward the kids, he got her attention once again. "Miss Michaels…" The young woman turned, and he gestured toward her arm, the one with the fingerprint bruises. "You doin' ok?"

With a sincere smile, Janine nodded. "Yes, I'm fine," she answered, and walked away.

******************NCIS**********NCIS*******************

Wanting an update on how the bomb squad was doing, Gibbs headed back over to the Command Center, rolling his eyes as it sounded like DiNozzo was regaling the occupants of the elevator with one of his trumped-up stories. He heard Ziva calling him, so he turned as she walked up with a gentleman looking very polished in his Marine dress uniform, a colonel, by the looks of it.

"Col. Ferragamo, this is Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the NCIS agent in charge. Gibbs, this is…."

"Col. Ferragamo," Gibbs said pleasantly, shaking the man's hand.

The man quickly gave Gibbs the once-over, liked what he saw. "I'm not here as a colonel, Agent Gibbs. I was told my son, Dante, is one of the children stuck in the elevator." He was very tense, his words short.

Gibbs gave a short nod. "Yes sir, he is, along with two other classmates, and his teacher."

"Miss Gracie's in there with him?" Colonel Ferragamo visibly relaxed. "I have the utmost faith in Gracie Lind, Agent Gibbs," he explained. "She's done more for Dante in the year he's been with her than all his other teachers put together." He looked Gibbs in the eye. "There's no one else I'd trust more with him, in this situation."

Gibbs returned the colonel's stare. He could see the truth in the man's eyes - he truly entrusted his son to that teacher. "Ok. But you'll have to be colonel, Colonel. Parents stay back behind the tape," he said lightly, walking the few feet back to the Command Center, Col. Ferragamo in step with him.

His eyes straight ahead, Col. Ferragamo asked Gibbs, "Military?"

Gibbs smiled. "Ooo-Rah, colonel."

"Ah, fellow Marine," Col. Ferragamo said. "Thought so. Officer?"

"No, sir," Gibbs said easily. "I work for a living."

The colonel smiled. "Gunny then." As serious as the situation his son was in, Col. Ferragamo felt much better, knowing a former marine was on the case.

*****************NCIS***********NCIS*******************

_**Fifteen minutes earlier…..**_

Tony straightened his suit jacket and tie, smoothed down his hair, looking around sheepishly when he remembered that he cold see Miss Lind, but _**she**_ couldn't see _**him**_. He sat down at the computer hooked up to the elevator. "Miss Lind?" Tony saw that she'd managed to eke out a space to sit, though it didn't look very comfortable.

"Ooo, a new voice," she said happily to the kids, big smile on her face.

"No deddin'," the little girl, Adina, Tony remembered, said, seriously.

Gracie looked skeptical. "We-e-e-elllll," she hedged, "no yelling _**yet.**_"

Tony smiled. "I don't yell at pretty women, and well, there's two of you sitting right there, so….."

Gracie rolled her eyes. "Oh Lordy, a sweet talker." She looked down at Adina. "I'd rather take my chances with the yeller."

Adina looked confused. She knew that this new voice just called her pretty, but Miss Gracie didn't seem happy. "'Wee todder?"

"Me and my big mouth," the young woman said quietly, hearing the agent chuckle. To Adina she explained, "a sweet talker is someone who… uh…" She wasn't sure how to explain it in pre-school terms. "Well, they say nice things about everybody, but sometimes what they say isn't always true."

The little girl looked at her teacher, getting the explanation - sort of, but confused. "'Ee tay Neeny pitty….."

Gracie gulped. "_**That**_ part is true," she reassured the little girl.

"_**That**_'_**s**_ true," Tony said quickly, at the same time as Gracie.

"Well, we can't keep calling you 'sweet talker,' so what do we call you? I assume you're also with NCIS?" Gracie asked.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, at your service," Tony offered. "But, since we may be here together for a while, you can just call me Tony."

Gracie gave a half-hearted wave to the camera. "Hi, Tony. And since it appears we're stuck here together, you can call me Gracie." She put a hand on the little girl's head. "This is Adina - we call her Deeny." The little girl waved with a big smile.

Tony chuckled. "Hi Adina. Is it ok if _**I**_ call you Deeny, too?" He saw her nod vigorously, and couldn't stop the laugh when she raised both hands, palms up, as if saying 'what are you asking for?' and said, "'Ih mah nay," simply. "I know it's your name, kiddo, but I didn't know if only special friends could use it." Again, with the hands up. "You fen," the little girl told him, and right then, Anthony Domenic DiNozzo, self-proclaimed love 'em - n' - leave 'em womanizer, lost his heart to a dark-haired, pony-tailed, wide-eyed five year old.

"'Ey, Agent Tony," Gracie called. "You still there?"

Hurriedly clearing his throat, hoping he sounded normal, he answered that he was.

Gracie nodded. She knew that Adina had just brought another grown man to his knees - happened all the time! "Ok, just checkin'. This big guy, here," she pointed to the left, "is my 'go-to' guy, Kyle." Kyle waved shyly. He didn't like talking in front of strangers because he knew they couldn't understand him very well.

"Hey Kyle," Tony said. "You look like a sports guy to me. You like sports?"

Kyle nodded. When Tony asked which ones, he all but whispered, with his head down, "bay bah, eh fuh bah."

Gracie began, "He said bay…"

"Baseball and football, I heard him," Tony answered lightly, letting the boy know he'd understood him, hoping to put him at ease.

With a raised eyebrow, Gracie looked at him, then turned to the boy in the wheelchair. "This is Dante. He's sleeping off a seizure right now, so he can't say 'hello.'"

"He doin' alright?" Tony asked, concerned.

Gracie nodded. "Oh yeah. This is pretty much his m.o. Seize and sleep."

Watching the FBI's bomb squad getting ready to enter the building with their dogs, Tony got serious. "Gracie, you might hear a lot of noise in a few minutes, but it's nothing to worry about. It's just the bomb squad…."

" _**The WHAT?"**_ the teacher yelled, causing Adina and Kyle to jump. "Sorry guys," she sputtered. "Don't say anything more over the intercom. Call my cell." She nodded her head at the kids, letting Tony know that she didn't want the kids to hear.

Understanding, Tony turned off the mike and dialed the number Gracie recited to him.

Answering almost before it rang, Gracie turned her head away from the kids and whispered, "what the _**hell**_ do you _**mean**_, the _**bomb squad?**_ I thought this was just a broken elevator?" She gave him a nasty look in the monitor.

Tony swore under his breath, realizing no one had told her what was going on. "Look, Miss…. Gracie," he began. "I'm sorry you found out this way…."

"Save the apologies," Gracie rasped angrily. "Just tell me what the _**hell **_is going on. And don't even try to tell me '_**it's classified,'**_ cuz if anyone ever needed to know the situation, it's _**me.**_" She dropped her head into her hand. A bomb. Fan-freakin'-tastic, she thought.

"We're not even sure there really _**is**_ a bomb at this point," Tony began to explain. "The school received a call, a bomb threat, about the same time the fire alarm went off." He saw Gracie close her eyes dejectedly. "Hey, Gracie….look at me," he demanded, sighing when he saw her turn back and face the camera. Though she gave the appearance of being calm and collected, he could see the fear in her pretty, deep blue eyes. She raised an expectant eyebrow at him. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, there's never any bomb, but we like to make sure. Even more so now, with you and the three kids trap…. _**stuck**_," he corrected quickly - didn't want her picturing themselves as trapped, "in an elevator." He saw her nod sadly. "Most of the guys out here, they have kids of their own, they'll give their all for those kids in there with you…just like _**you**_ do," he said softly.

Her head still down, Gracie raised her eyes, looking directly into the camera. "What about the other one percent?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Tony felt her stare hit him right through the screen. "We won't even think about that until we have to," he stated positively, hoping to give her some confidence. "For right now, until we know differently, this is just a threat." He watched her absorb what he'd said. "Think about your students, Gracie….you have to keep calm for them, ok?" She nodded without a word, but Tony could see her getting her emotions back under control. "We're going to get you outta' there, Gracie. I promise."

At that moment, Gibbs walked up with Col. Ferragamo. He was concerned with what he'd just heard. "Don't make promises you're not sure you can keep, DiNozzo," he reminded the young agent softly, so he wouldn't be heard in the elevator.

Looking from Gibbs to the elevator video feed, then back to Gibbs, Tony declared, with a determination in his eye that Gibbs had only seen once before - when they rescued Ziva - "I'll keep this one."

_**A/N - **_**Hope you enjoyed this chapter - we got a little of everything from Tony in there, eh? Well, you know what it's time for…. It's time for you to REVIEW! Like, it, loathe it, have ideas to make it better, have ideas you'd like to see happen, you gotta' let me know! And REVIEWS make me want to write more, so if you want more of this story, you need to REVIEW! *** A big 'thank you' to all the readers who've already reviewed, alerted, and favorited. You're all in my will!**

_**A/N 2 - **_**All the standard disclaimers about not owning any part of or receiving compensation from the creators/production team/team of NCIS, CBS, etc., still apply.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**Chapter 6**_

Tony removed the headset connecting him to the elevator and stood, facing Gibbs and his guest.

"Col. Ferragamo, this is my SFA, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. DiNozzo, this is one of the kids' father…."

Tony stuck out a hand and shook the colonel's. "Call me Tony. And you're Dante's dad, right?"

Col. Ferragamo nodded. "May I?" he asked, pointing to the headset.

With a quick glance at Gibbs for the ok, Tony nodded, moving aside to let the colonel in to the table. "Of course."

Looking at the picture on the screen, the colonel's eyes teared up a bit when he saw his son. He donned the headset. "Miss Gracie? Vince."

Tony looked skeptical. "Pfft. Vince? What happened to Colonel?" he muttered under his breath, not realizing that he sounded like a jealous little kid.

"I think she's known him a little longer than she's known you, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with that half-smile of his, enjoying watching his SFA pout, and try to act like he wasn't eavesdropping on the conversation.

"…..Yeah, it was a short seizure, less than five minutes. Janine has the exact timing, I didn't have anywhere to keep track of it in here," Gracie told the colonel, explaining his son's seizure and subsequent nap. "There was a new thing this time, though. The rigor didn't relax when he fell asleep. He'd grabbed my sleeve during, and couldn't release it." She held up her arm with the ragged shirtsleeve. "Ended up having to cut my way out because I couldn't move too far."

The colonel winced. "I'm sorry 'bout that, Gracie. Give me the bill, and I'll…"

Gracie waved him off. "Please. With what I get on me during the day, I know enough not to wear anything that's 'dry-clean only' or 'fancy-smancy.' This was nothing irreplaceable, believe me, Vince," she said with a laugh.

"But still… you ruined your clothes because of my son…."

Gracie was already shaking her head. "I consider it 'in the line of duty,'" she stated firmly. "These things happen. No big deal."

The colonel reluctantly agreed to let it go with a sigh. "What about everything else? Everything ok - except for being stuck, that is."

"I guess," Gracie said with a shrug. "Even if it wasn't….nothing anyone can do about it."

Sensing Tony lurking behind him, Col. Ferragamo decided to end the conversation. "Ok then, hon. Everyone's doing their best to get you all out of there. I won't let them stop 'til you're all safe."

Gracie smiled shyly. "Thanks, Vince. Talk to you soon."

"Yes, you will." Unashamedly, he kissed his fingers and pressed them to his son's picture. "Thank you for taking care of my son, Gracie. I know he's in the best hands." Taking off the headset, the colonel reached out and traced his son's figure on the screen, silently wishing everyone safe, especially his son. Determinedly stepping away from the screen, Vince the Dad turned back into Col. Ferragamo, the… well, the colonel. "What do you need from me? What can I do?"

Gibbs motioned the colonel to walk with him, and DiNozzo followed. "There's nothing we can do right now but wait, colonel. We've got an FBI bomb squad checking out the building as we speak, we'll know more once they've finished their sweep."

The trio stopped several yards away from the command center. "What do we know," the colonel asked. "Anyone claiming responsibility?"

Tony and Gibbs shared a look. "We don't know anything at the moment," Tony said grimly. "There's been no further contact since the original call about the bomb came in."

"Agent David is with T.A.R.U., tracing that first call, but it's been slow going. Whoever they are, they've got a pretty sophisticated set up." Gibbs shrugged. "I'm waiting for my other junior agent, Tim McGee, to return. He's our tech guy."

"If anyone can find these guys, our McGeek can," Tony said confidently, cringing at the head slap from Gibbs. "Sorry boss." He rubbed the back of his head. "Could we not tell McTechno-babble I said nice things about him? I don't want him to get a big head or anything."

"You mean, like _yours_?" Gibbs asked with a raised eyebrow and another slap to the back of Tony's head. "You're on elevator duty. _**GO.**_" He and Col. Ferragamo watched Tony amble back to the command center. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the colonel was worried. "Colonel, I assure you my team is the best at what we do. Agent DiNozzo wasn't lying when he said Agent McGee was the best with the computer stuff."

Colonel Ferragamo turned to Gibbs. "If that were _**your**_ child in that elevator….would you be telling the same story?"

Gibbs paused for a moment to think about his daughter Kelly, who'd been killed 20 years ago when she was only 8 years old. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he spoke. "My….daughter was killed…._**murdered**_, a little over 20 years ago, along with my wife. Cartel hit while I was overseas," he said, a faraway look in his eyes. "If anyone could have protected my family….it would have been my team." He looked the colonel in the eye. "They may look like kids, and they may act it most of the time," he smiled. "But you won't find a smarter, more talented group of 'kids' anywhere. That's a guarantee, colonel."

Seeing the truth in Gibbs' eyes, and knowing the man is a fellow marine, Col. Ferragamo gives Gibbs his blind trust. He held out a hand to shake Gibbs'. "Then that's good enough for me, Gunny."

With a small, half-smile, Gibbs answered, "Oo-rah, colonel."

_**********************NCIS***NCIS**********************_

As he returned to the command center, Tony could see some activity going on in the elevator. When he put on the headset, he could hear the final lines of a childrens' activity song.

"…if you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you're happy and you know it, touch your toes….."

"Awwww, I missed it," Tony said lightly, hoping to keep everyone onboard the elevator calm. "Can you do it again so I can play?" He chuckled as the 2 children who were awake smiled and said 'yeah!'

With a groan and a smile, Gracie said, "I think eight verses is enough!" She glared at Tony. "What other song can we have Agent Tony play with us, guys?"

"'Owny-Pony!" giggled Adina.

Gracie shook her head again. "Sorry, Deen, but we don't have enough room to do the Hokey Pokey." The little girl pouted. "Besides, Kyle was on his feet way too long earlier, so we want some sit-down games we can play, so his legs don't hurt, right?" Gracie admonished gently, smiling when the girl nodded.

Adina turned to Kyle. "Ay-ul's 'urn a pit a sawn."

"That's nice of you, Deeny, letting Kyle have a turn to pick a song. What do you think, Kyle, have a song you want to do?"

Tony smiled, watching Gracie interact with the kids. He had to admire her - not only for taking on Gibbs - but for the work she does. Here she was, basically trapped by a bomb in a small, metal box, with three severely disabled children, and she was managing to keep them all as calm and happy as possible, like nothing was wrong. And the fact that she was beautiful didn't hurt! Tim and Ziva would probably think her fairly average-looking, with her long, dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes, average body type. In fact, they'd probably wonder why Tony found her so attractive. But he didn't see 'dark blonde hair' - he saw burnished gold with streaks of honey. As for the 'dark blue eyes,' they reminded him of twilight, just before night. And the 'average body…..' - well, his _**own**_ body found nothing average about it! Gracie's yell brought him back to the present. He saw her staring at the camera with a raised eyebrow, as if she knew he'd been daydreaming. "Sorry," he chuckled, embarrassed.

Giving him her half-smile, she said, "'s ok. Deeny just had a question for you." She turned to the young girl. "I don't think Agent Tony knows any of our songs, kiddo, so he may not be able to sing with us."

True, Tony didn't know a lot of kids' songs, but he was willing to give it a shot. Hell, he'd been a kid once. "Tell you what, sweets," he addressed Adina, "Why don't you start the song, and if I know it, I'll jump in, ok?"

Over happy cheering, Gracie said "Tony, you don't have to sing along, it's ok." She shrugged. "It's in _**my**_ job description, not yours."

"Hey, I can't let _**you guys**_ have all the fun, can I?" Tony joked. "I mean, you've met my boss, right?" he laughed.

"Problem, DiNozzo?" Gibbs' voice came from behind, surprising him. As usual.

"Uh, no, no boss. Just uh, telling Gracie….uh….." He saw the smirk on Gibbs' face, the raised eyebrow. "….what a great guy you are to work for. _**Great.**_ Great guy….. Bu-u-u-u-u-t…. I don't need to tell _**you**_ that, boss, cuz you already know how great you are, cuz you're _**the boss**_, and bosses are bosses cuz they're great, and I'm just shutting up now, boss." Tony winced, waiting for the head slap. When it didn't come, he opened one eye and saw Gibbs just standing there, smirking. Looking behind himself at the monitor, he thanked God that there were impressionable children around to keep him from getting slapped.

"Wrap it up for a minute, DiNozzo," Gibbs murmured. "Bomb squad's on it's way out. They found something."

The tense moment of silence on the other end of the line told Gracie that something was going on, something they didn't want her to know about. "Tony? Tony, what's going on?"

Tony looked at the screen, lump in his throat, sick to his stomach. He couldn't say anything, not yet. Not until he knew exactly what they were dealing with. "I have to go talk to my boss for a minute, ok? But uh… but you guys keep singing, and when I get back….I'll, I'll join in, ok?" He ripped the headset off, dropping it on the table, forcing himself to ignore Gracie calling after him. He turned and raced after Gibbs, needing to hear what the bomb squad had found.

_**********************NCIS***NCIS**********************_

_**A/N - **_**Sorry for the shorty chapter. Kind of feeling my way to the big scene, where we find out what's really going on and why. Congratulations to **_**Mandielouluvsewe, **_**who's name will be used in some way in this story for giving me the idea for why someone wants to bomb the school. Don't worry, you'll be a **_**good**_** character, not evil. Unless you **_**want**_** to be evil, then I can figure something out…..**

_**DISCLAIMER:**_** The usual stuff about having no part of NCIS, CBS, etc., and about getting no benefits from the aforementioned parties in any way, shape, or form still apply. No elevators were hurt in the making of this fanfic.**


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N-**_** Here's the next chapter - hope you enjoy! If you do, please R,MMD,&R (Read, Make My Day, and Review)! Big thanks to all new alerters, favoriters, and reviewers - well, not **_**just**_** the new ones, big thanks to ALL of you - each and every review is greatly appreciated and puts a smile on my face.**

_**A/N2- **_**I know NOTHING about bombs, making them, placing them, exploding them - NOTHING. And I'm not about to look that kind of stuff up on the internet, cuz I don't want any law enforcement agencies thinking I'm a danger to national security (Hello, agencies! Appreciate all your hard work, keeping this wonderful country safe!).**

_**DISCLAIMER-**_** Own nothing, get nothing from no one, nowhere, no how.**

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

**CHAPTER 7**

Team Gibbs (minus McGee, who was sent to bring in the Admiral), Tobias Fornell, and Col. Ferragamo went to the FBI's bomb squad truck, where the leader was putting video from inside the school up on a monitor. "Whadda' we got, commander?" Gibbs barked.

"Well," the head of the unit sighed, "there's more than one bomb, and they all seem to be centered in and around the elevator area." He pulled up footage from the robot cam used in tight or dangerous places. "You see here, there's a whole line of them going up the inside of the shaft."

Ziva stepped closer for a better look. "They are all pipe bombs, yes? Easy to dismantle."

"Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you?" The leader pulled up more footage, this with what looked like a fuse or power box. "Most of those pipe bombs are just that - regular, ol' pipe bombs. But there are three that are attached to other, more…..elaborate, for lack of a better word…. incendiary devices." He pointed to wires sticking out every which way. "The good news is, the devices are all placed so that the only real building damage will be centered in the immediate elevator area. There should be minimal or no damage anywhere else in the building."

Tony was incredulous. "There's three little kids and a teacher _**in**_ the elevator, how is _**that**_ good news?" He shook off the hand Gibbs placed on his shoulder to calm him down. He knew he had to keep his cool. He was trying.

Every member of the bomb squad present looked down or away, knowing what was coming next. And it wasn't good. "Unfortunately…that's the _**only**_ good news there is." He pulls up more video. "This is looking down onto the elevator from the floor above."

Ziva squinted, trying to make out the pieces. "There is no timer, no wires…it is directly on the pulley….that is that new clay, is it not?" The squad leader nodded. Ziva turned to Gibbs.

"What's it mean, Ziver?"

"There is a new form of incendiary clay, much like C-4. Only…."

"Only?" Fornell asked.

Ziva was very concerned. "It has no timer, no wires, no ignition switch. The clay is it's own bomb. It is ignited by temperature change. When it reaches a certain degree of heat….."

"It explodes." Gibbs frowned.

"Placing it on the pulley….if the elevator moves up or down, heat will be conducted through the pulley," Ziva continued quietly, "causing the clay to ignite."

Tony followed the logic. "So the heat from the pulley ignites the clay, it goes off, it incinerates the pulleys….."

"And the elevator drops like a ton of bricks," Gibbs concludes, thinking of ways to get the kids and the teacher out without having to move the elevator mechanically.

The squad leader cleared his throat. "You haven't seen the worst of it." The video changes to the underside of the elevator. There are gasps all around.

"Are those…." Tony began, unbelievingly.

"Pressure plates," the squad leader finished. "There's 3 attached to the bottom of the elevator itself. The weight of the compartment changes…."

Fornell frowned in concern. "Boom," he said quietly.

Tony looked on the bright side. "Ok… you go in and dismantle the plates, we get everyone out…what do you mean, 'no'?" he asked when the squad leader shook his head.

Squad leader pointed to some wires on the center plate. "See these here? They go to the operation box." At everyone's confused look, he says, "The operation box _**in**_ the elevator. If this plate is disabled…..it triggers a short in the operation box, which causes a spark….."

"…..which creates heat, which in turn ignites the clay," Ziva said matter of factly. "Disarm one…."

"It triggers one of the others," said the squad leader. "To keep any of the devices from firing, every single one would have to be disarmed at the same time."

Gibbs turned away in disbelief and frustration, running a hand over his face as he turned back. "Chances of that happening?" He grimaced at the raised eyebrow the squad leader gave him. "Thought so. Who we looking at, Commander? What kind of guy does this kind of thing?"

The squad commander thought for a moment. "Actually, taken individually, each different device is simple. Easy to make. Might have to do a lot of work to get some of the material, especially this new clay, but other than that, it's pretty much Bomb Making 101."

"So the person is not as experienced with incendiaries as he's leading us to believe," Ziva concluded.

"That's my thinking, yes," said the squad leader. "The placement, the wiring….. All points to overkill. This is someone who is more about making a statement. Damage confined to one area, devices overdone…..I'd guess that more than one of those devices isn't actually armed. But, since we can't get all the way in there to check, we have to treat it as one hundred percent live artillery."

"So you're saying that the kids trapped in the elevator….."

The commander bowed his head. Sometimes he hated his job. "There's the very real possibility that….they won't make it out of that elevator alive."

Gibbs looked at Col. Ferragamo. A trained marine, Ferragamo knew how to hide his emotions, but one agonized father could read the signs of another agonized father. Tony's emotions, on the other hand, were plain as day on his face. Anger, anxiety, fear, sadness…. He put a hand on Tony's elbow and pulled him away from the group a few feet. "Do _**not**_ fall apart on me _**now**_, DiNozzo," he ordered, giving the SFA a small shake.

Tony looked up at his mentor, begging him to tell him what to do. "What do we tell Gracie, boss?" he worried.

Looking back at the school, where just about everyone was now gone, Gibbs answered, "nothing."

"_**Nothing?**_" Tony couldn't believe Gibbs would say something like that. "So, what? I'm supposed to sit there on the phone with her and her kids, singing songs, acting like everything's _**fine, **_when I'm really just waiting for them to _**explode?"**_

Gibbs got in Tony's face. "_**'Ey!"**_ he all but shouted. "You ever known me to leave a man behind?" His blue eyes pierced into Tony's green ones.

"No, boss."

"Well I won't now, either," he nodded once, still holding Tony with that steely gaze, until he could see the younger man believed it. "Don't say anything about the bombs, when they're getting out…. Nothing. Understand?"

"But boss…they've already been in there almost 4 hours…..the kids are already hungry, and getting more restless by the minute. Not to mention any health issues going on."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "You not confident in your new girlfriend's abilities as a teacher now, DiNozzo?" he teased lightly.

"Of course I am," Tony stated. "It's just…she can only take so much too…." Realizing the most important part, he muttered, "and she's not my girlfriend." When Gibbs just smiled, he added, "yet."

Hands on Tony's shoulders, Gibbs gave them a squeeze. "Look. Just go over there and do what you do best….."

"But there are little kids, boss!….."

_**WHAP! "Talk**__, _you idiot, waste time!"

Tony rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, the _**other**_ thing I do best….gotcha.' On it, boss," he said as he turned and walked toward the command center truck.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and shook his head. Kids. He was about to walk back to the bomb squad truck when Ziva rushed up to him, the principal close behind.

"Gibbs! There has been contact from the bomber….."

Gibbs took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to stay calm. "Let's hear it, David."

_**********************NCIS**********NCIS**********************_

_**A/N - **_**Short I know, but now I have to think how to get Gracie and the kids out of the elevator! Any ideas? **

**And please remember that REVIEWING is a VIRTUE! One greatly appreciated by your author! Thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N - **_**Well, most of y'all asked for Tony singing, so I included some in this chapter just for you, for being such wonderful readers! Special hugs for the new readers, reviewers, and alerters who've joined this happy little group - welcome, and I hope you enjoy the ride!**

_**DISCLAIMER:**_** Nothing to or from anyone or anything.**

_**WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER**_

_**Chapter 8**_

Tony walked back to the command center, trying to get himself in a good mood. He knew Gracie would be able to tell something was wrong, and she wouldn't give in until he told her, so his poker face had better be damned good. As he picked up the headset that would connect him to the elevator, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out sharply. 'Ok, I can do this,' he thought. Putting on the headset, he had to smile at what he heard.

"….mi, a name, I call myself. Fa, a long, long way to ru-u-u-un…." Tony just _**had**_ to join in - who could _**not**_ join in with the music from _The Sound of Music_? "So, a needle pulling thread. La, a note to follow so…." He had to laugh at the look on the sweet faces in the elevator - surprise, shock, and happy all at the same time. "…..a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to do! Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do! So do!" Adina and Kyle applauded and giggled at the thought of a special agent singing that song, and all of a sudden Tony's throat got tight, thinking about what was all around them outside the elevator that they had no clue about.

"Well whaddya' know, guys, Agent Tony _**did**_ know one of our songs!" Gracie smiled.

Tony tried to keep it light. "Well, I _**am**_ something of a movie aficionado," he chuckled when Gracie rolled her eyes. "and besides," he continued, "is there anyone in the _**world**_ that hasn't seen _The Sound of Music_?"

Smiling, Gracie said, "somehow, that doesn't quite strike me as a 'Tony' kind of movie."

"If it's classic, it's my kind of movie." He saw Adina rubbing her eyes. He didn't know much about kids, but he knew that that meant she was getting sleepy. "How we all doin,' guys?" he asked the kids gently.

Adina pouted. "'Un'ry." Kyle nodded, too.

He winced. "I imagine you guys _**are**_ hungry after all this time," he commiserated. "I'll work on that, ok?" He saw Kyle nod. Adina was determined to pout as long as it took. "Awww, c'mon now, Deeny-girl," Tony said in that smooth voice he used only with women. "You know I'd never let you starve, right? Not my best girl…."

Gracie had to hide her face to laugh when Adina rolled her eyes dramatically. "'Wee todder," the child grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms with a huff. (A/N - that's how Deeny says 'sweet talker' - see ch. 5)

Tony dropped his head onto his arms and laughed. He just couldn't help it. When he'd gotten himself back under control, he spoke again. "I think someone's been spending a li-iiiiiiiitle too much time with Miss Gracie."

"Oh sure, blame the teacher," Gracie said, still chuckling. She ran a gentle hand over Deeny's head. "Agent Tony is trying re-e-e-eal hard to fix things, Deen. Which would you rather, a pizza? Or getting out of this ucky elevator?"

Adina narrowed her eyes at her teacher, putting on her best aggravated face. "'E-tah."

Gracie laughed again. "Even Agent Tony can't compete with pizza! Sorry, Tony!"

"Hey, in any other situation, I'd be with Deeny on this one. Ain't nuthin' like a good pie!"

Pulling a few crayons out of her pocket, Gracie gave them to Kyle and Adina. "Here you go, guys. Why don't you color for a little while?"

Kyle looked confused. "No bayber…?"

Plastering on a sarcastic smile, Gracie said, "We don't need paper! We're going to decorate this elevator to make it more pretty. These ol' yellowy walls are kinda' boring. So you guys go ahead and write and draw al-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l over the walls, everywhere you can reach."

The two children looked at their crayons. Then at each other. Then at the walls. Then back to each other. And then to their teacher, eyebrows raised. She was telling them to draw on the walls?

"It's ok, guys, Miss Gracie is giving you permission to color the walls in here. I know we're not usually allowed to draw on walls and stuff, huh?" She saw them nod seriously. "But this is a special situation, and you will _**not**_ get in trouble for it, ok?" The kids still hesitated. "I promise, guys. You will not get in trouble." With one last look at their teacher, Deeny and Kyle slowly began scribbling on the wall nearest them. When no one told them to stop, they got more enthusiastic about it, and were soon giggling and laughing.

Gracie watched them enjoying themselves for a moment, happy to see them acting like children. Then she turned to the video screen. "The teacher will gladly take the blame for this one." Making sure neither child was paying her any attention, she put on her best teacher face. "What's going on, Tony," she ordered.

Tony gulped. "Uh, what do you mean? Seems like things are going pretty well, considering." He winced when Gracie increased the stare. He couldn't help but think how interesting it would be to put the Gibbs Glare up against the Gracie Glare, to see who blinked first. He jumped, startled, when she yelled his name in his ear. "Sorry! Wool-gathering."

"'Wool-gathering'?" she snarked. "Who are you, my great-granmaw? You were stalling, DiNozzo. What's. Going. On."

She'd startled him again, calling him 'DiNozzo' - just like Gibbs does. He shook his head. Not good to think of a beautiful woman in comparison with his boss. "Honest, Gracie. There's nothing new going on. If I can figure out a way, we'll get some food into you guys, all right?"

She thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. "Eh, nix the food, Tony." She cocked an eyebrow when he wondered why. "Cuz what goes in eventually needs to come out…." She rolled her eyes at the silence, knowing he didn't get it. Such a guy. "If we feed them, in about an hour they'll need the bathroom….?"

The light bulb went on over Tony's head. "Ah! Gotcha'! Ok, so ix-nay on the ood-fay. Well then, is there anything else I… I mean, _**we**_, can do for you guys?" He turned his head when he heard Gibbs call him.

"Other than getting us out of here? Nope." As Tony started to say he had to go, Gracie stopped him. "Wait! There is one thing…. Keep me in the loop, and don't lie to me, huh? Give it to me straight. And….and don't be gone too long. I… _**we,**_" she stammered, "kinda' like… having someone out there to talk to. Ya' know?"

Tony hated to see such a sad look on that pretty face. "I'll be back as soon as I can, darlin.' And hopefully I'll have some news for you, ok?" He smiled when she nodded. "Ok. I'll be back soon. Hold down the fort."

"Don't think the fort's going anywhere, anytime soon." Gracie rolled her eyes. "We'll be right here when you get back," she gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Ah, there's the Gracie I know and love….." Tony caught himself. "Uh, yeah, so, um, I'll….I'll be back. Soon. Right back." He took off the headset with a wince and dropped it on the table with a thunk. Rubbing a hand through his hair, he smacked himself on the back of the head. "Idiot," he mumbled to himself, walking across the yard to where Gibbs and the rest of the crew were waiting.

Absently playing with the frayed end of her cut sleeve, Gracie was in a state of shock. He'd called her 'darlin.' And not in a generic, using-it-instead-of-your-name-to keep-you-calm kind of way. Like he really called her 'darlin.' She couldn't remember the last time someone called her that. _**Had**_ anyone ever called her that? She didn't think so, not even the colonel, when they had….well….It was several more minutes of replaying the conversation in her mind when she realized Tony had also said, 'the Gracie I know and love.' She shouldn't read too much into that, she knew, but… first darlin'? And then….. Trouble was, she was kind of feeling the same way about _**him**_. And she hadn't even _**seen**_ him yet. Looking at the artwork Kyle and Adina were still creating on the walls, Gracie shook her head. 'You've got it bad, girlfriend,' she told herself, pulling her knees up to her chin.

_**********************NCIS*********NCIS*********************_

When he saw the concern on everyone's face as he walked up, Tony got a bad feeling in his gut. "Boss?" He turned to Gibbs, who ran a tired hand over his face.

"There was a call, DiNozzo."

"And I'm guessing it's not good news."

Gibbs sighed. "Ziva is tracking the call now. Apparently it's the work of one guy, who insists he's not a terrorist, although he won't tell us his name. He even apologized about the children being in the elevator, said that wasn't supposed to happen, but since they're there….."

Tony closed his eyes in defeat. "Collateral damage." He looked around the group, Ziva with the SWAT team tracing the call, the principal pacing, Gracie's assistant wringing her hands nervously, trying hard not to cry. And the colonel, sitting alone on the back of the FBI truck, head in his hands. Tony might not be a parent, but his heart went out to the guy, hearing a whack-job call your disabled son 'collateral damage.' He turned back to Gibbs. "So what does this guy want? Money? Prisoner release?"

"He didn't say, DiNozzo. Said he'd call us back with his demands." Gibbs could tell his SFA wanted to hit kick, or throw something. "You ok with this, Tony? Don't make me pull you off…."

Tony shook his head. "I'm good, boss. Honest." He made himself look Gibbs in the eye without turning away. "What's the plan?"

"Wait 'til this guy calls again. Get him talking, hope to trip him up. Hope he'll tell us that all that artillery is all unarmed…."

Looking over to the command center, thinking that Gracie was all alone, Tony sighed. "That's a lot of hoping, boss."

Gibbs' look followed his senior agent's, knowing where Tony's mind was. "Well, that's all we got right now." He clapped him on the back. "So don't go giving it up." He walked back to the FBI truck, where Fornell was now talking to the colonel.

A frustrated Ziva came over to Tony. "We can not follow the trace. There are too many pings, dings…things," she gestured with her hands. "The signal is bouncing all over the place. We need McGee."

"Gibbs sent him to pick up the admiral." He looked at Ziva out of the corner of his eyes when she snorted. "Yeah, that was my thought, too. The admiral is gonna' serve poor McWimpy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With room left over for dessert."

Ziva stood next to Tony, looking toward the command center also. "Does she know…"

Tony shook his head sadly. "Boss told me not to tell her anything. But she knows something's up. I can tell."

She looked at him with new eyes. "You really feel something for this woman, yes?" she asked quietly.

He chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah. Why do my relationships always end up with someone getting dead?"

Ziva studied him, appraising the man. "I do not think you will let this one die, Tony. If she means that much, then you must do what you can to make this come out alright in the end." She put a comforting hand on his arm then walked away.

Groaning to himself, Tony began walking back over to the command center. "Sure, make it all come out ok in the end…. Easier said than done." AS he neared the truck, he made himself put on a relatively happy face, calling himself a hypocrite all the while.

_**********************NCIS**********NCIS**********************_

_**In the elevator….**_

Checking her watch, Gracie saw that it was nearing five hours that they'd been trapped in this elevator. She wasn't dumb. She knew that the presence of the bomb squad was not a good omen, and the fact that there had been no word since they'd left the building wasn't a good sign, either. She didn't believe Tony's bull about there being nothing new going on, and she'd give him a piece of her mind when he came back. She looked over at Kyle and Adina, both of whom were starting to get kinda' grumpy. Five hours is a long time to be so inactive. Kyle would never get fresh or pushy, but he would whine. Adina, on the other hand, could have a full-on tantrum. She decided to see if she could get them to take a nap.

As if she'd heard her teacher's thoughts, little Adina sighed tiredly and climbed into her lap, tears bright in her eyes. "Wan go 'ome," she whined softly, snuggling in when Miss Gracie hugged her.

Gracie kissed the little girl on the top of her head. "I know, baby. Soon, ok?" Her heart just about broke for the little girl. She'd had a rough life in her seven years.

The little girl sniffled. "Ti'a be ma' Deeny no 'ome."

Pulling the girl tighter into her arms, Gracie sighed to herself. "Tina will _**not**_ be mad that you're not home on time, honey. The school has called her by now to tell her what's going on, so she knows there's a reason." As if this sweet girl would go off somewhere on her own, purposefully being late for dinner. More than once, Deeny had mentioned Tina - her foster mom - being mad at her. Gracie had yet to see any bruises on Deeny, but there was no doubt in her mind that there was verbal and mental abuse going on in that home. She'd called the girl's case worker a few times over the past two years, but that had gone nowhere. Feeling the little girl sob, she looked down to see Deeny with her thumb in her mouth.

"S'eepy, Mih Dayt-zee," she whimpered.

"Well then," Gracie said softly, "go ahead and fall asleep. I'll be right here, and I won't let anyone hurt you, ok?" She kissed Deeny on the head when she nodded sadly. "How 'bout you, Kyle? You did a lot of leg work today. You tired?" The boy nodded, embarrassed. "Ok then," she said, sliding on her butt a little to her left. "Can you scoot a bit towards me, and I'll help you the rest of the way?" Without a sound, the small boy slowly dragged himself a few inches closer to Gracie. She groaned to herself. Nowhere near close enough, but she knew he was in pain. She wiggled and skootched herself over closer to Kyle. "Ok! Made it!" Gracie raised her left arm, and the boy slid easily under it and cuddled into her side. She gave the top of his head a kiss, too.

"'Oo tea?" came Kyle's quiet voice.

Gracie smiled. "You want me to sing?" Both children nodded. "What would you like me to sing?" Kyle shrugged. He wasn't picky - any soft song would put him over the edge into sleep at this point.

Adina pulled her thumb out of her mouth long enough to answer, "Ayboo-die."

"So we're sticking with a _Sound of Music_ theme today, huh?" Gracie joked. The girl in her lap put her thumb back in her mouth and nodded sleepily. "Ok, _Edelweiss_ it is." She leaned back against the wall and got as comfortable as possible with eighty pounds in her lap and another 50 leaning on the left side of her chest. Snuggling both children as close to her as possible, Gracie began to sing.

"_Edelweiss, Edelweiss. Every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright. You look happy to meet me….."_

This was what Tony walked back into when he returned to the command center truck. Before putting on his headset, he took a moment to just look at Gracie and the kids. The three of them were all exhausted, that much was obvious, but like a trooper, Gracie put the kids above herself. He thought what an adorable picture they made, all cuddled together like that. As he put on the headset, he heard the refrain of _Edelweiss_. Gracie sounded like she was tiring - she must have been at it for a while. Without thought, his voice joined hers. "_Bloom and grow forever. Edelweiss. Edelweiss. Bless my homeland forever…."_

Gracie jumped a bit to hear the deep voice join hers in song, but she instantly felt not so alone. She fought tears. "Hey, welcome back," she said softly. She held her breath as Adina moaned and shifted, hoping the girl didn't wake. _Phew_! She didn't.

"Looks like things are quieting down in there, huh?"

She smiled. "Yeah. It was this or full-fledged tantrum. Thought this was the better choice." She shifted Kyle a bit. "So? What's the word? Are we getting out of here anytime soon?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, there may be a little problem with that…"

Her head dropped back against the wall, and Gracie couldn't help the lone tear that tracked down her cheek. "How did I know you were going to say that?" She wiped her cheek the best she could on her shoulder. "There's a problem, isn't there?"

"Yeah, there's a problem." It broke his heart to see another tear and then another roll down her cheeks. "Listen to me, Gracie. You're not alone, ok? I'm right here, and I'm staying right here 'til they get all of you out of there, ok?" He winced when she nodded. She was too tired to argue.

Gracie turned those teary, midnight-blue eyes up to the video camera. "How bad?" When Tony paused for a little too long, she said, "Please, Tony. I'm not stupid. The bomb squad? And the silence? Just tell me. I think I deserve that much."

Tony swallowed through the tightness in his throat, dropping his head. She was right, she did deserve to know. But how did you tell someone they're surrounded by possibly live ammunition, with no foreseeable way of removing either the munitions or the people? "It's….bad, Gracie. We're working on a plan to get you guys out, but it may take a while longer." He saw her chin tremble and wanted to be there to hold her, like she held the children. "Hang with me, darlin.' Don't give up on me now." She nodded, but he still didn't feel good about it.

"Talk to me," Gracie sniffled softly, just wanting to hear another voice. That it was Tony's was just a bonus.

"About what?" he answered, just as quietly.

Gracie shook her head, sniffling. "Anything. I just…need to hear another voice….please?"

Tony squeezed his eyelids with his thumb and forefinger, hoping to stop his own tears. "Uhhh, ok." He thought for a moment. "I guess, as a teacher, you wouldn't want to hear about my checkered educational background, huh?"

She gave a watery laugh. "Actually yeah, I would," she teased, trying to make herself believe things were ok.

"Well, it started in kindergarten, with this teacher, Miss Cabbage…" He pretended to be offended when Gracie laughed. "What? That's what we all thought her name was….honestly! So anyway, we used to have morning meeting, where we'd sing songs and play games, so one day, Miss Cabbage is at the piano, playing some song, and me and another boy…what was his name…..you'd think you'd remember the name of the guy you got in so much trouble with…..anyway, he and I were in a silly mood, so we….. Billy Tatum! That's who it was! So good ol' Billy and I are sitting there, and we'd been in a silly mood all morning. So we decided to…."

_**********************NCIS***********NCIS*********************_

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